


The Way to a Man's Heart

by iamtheenemy (Steph)



Category: HIStory3 - 圈套 | HIStory3: Trapped (TV)
Genre: Jealousy, M/M, Post-Canon, gratuitous mentions of food
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:28:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28231704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steph/pseuds/iamtheenemy
Summary: A new food truck arrives outside of the police station.Tang Yi grabbed the bun and took a bite. It was incredible.“Well?” Shao Fei asked.Tang Yi shrugged and passed back the half-eaten bun. “It’s ok,” he lied.
Relationships: Jack | Fang Liangdian/Zhao Li'an | Zhao-zi, Meng Shaofei/Tang Yi
Comments: 23
Kudos: 195
Collections: Yuletide 2020





	The Way to a Man's Heart

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mara](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mara/gifts).



> Hope you enjoy this treat! Happy holidays!

The first time Meng Shao Fei mentioned it, it barely registered with Tang Yi. He was on the phone with his sister, discussing company business. She had finished negotiating the details of a huge merger, and she was going through the highlights of the contract.

Shao Fei came home from work, slamming the door in his usual loud fashion. He kicked off his boots, unwound his scarf and took off his jacket. It had been less than a year since Tang Yi finished his eighteen month prison sentence, and he still enjoyed seeing Shao Fei move comfortably around their shared home.

“Tang Yi!” Shao Fei said loud enough to be heard over the line.

Hong Ye sighed in his ear. “Never mind, if that menace is back, you’re not going to listen to anything I say. I’ll call you later.”

“Email me the document,” Tang Yi instructed.

“Fine,” Hong Ye said and hung up on him.

“Tang Yi!” Shao Fei said again, invading his personal space until he was sitting on Tang Yi’s lap, his knees on either side of Tang Yi’s thighs. Tang Yi’s hands went automatically to Shao Fei’s waist, and Tang Yi leaned forward to accept Shao Fei’s kiss.

“How was your day?” Shao Fei asked when he pulled away.

“Mmm, busy,” Tang Yi answered, urging Shao Fei closer and dragging his lips along Shao Fei’s neck “Yours?”

“Good,” Shao Fei said. “There’s a new food truck down the block from the station that sells the best meat buns I’ve ever had. Zhao Zi and I ate half a dozen between us today.”

Tang Yi’s hands slipped under the hem of Shao Fei’s shirt to touch warm, smooth skin, and that was where the first conversation ended.

* * *

“Do you remember the food truck I told you about?” Shao Fei asked a few days later when they were being driven home in Tang Yi’s town car.

Tang Yi frowned, trying to recall. “Meat buns?” he asked after a moment.

“That’s the one,” Shao Fei said. “Well, the guy who owns it - his name is Cheng-En - I told him to surprise me at lunch today. He gave me fried chicken with homemade chili powder that was so spicy I cried, but it was amazing. You should meet me at the station one day so I can bring you there.”

“Sure,” Tang Yi agreed idly.

* * *

“A-Fei, I told Cheng-En you stayed home sick, and he sent you some sishen soup on the house.”

Zhao Zi started talking the moment he walked through the door, stopping only to take off his shoes before thumping a plastic bag down on the table.

Tang Yi convinced Shao Fei to call in sick when not even the medication brought his fever down. It took some creative thinking and some shameless exploiting of a few of Shao Fei's key weak spots, but eventually Tang Yi got him to call the chief and settle in for the day. He looked clammy and miserable, wrapped in a blanket from head to toe. At the mention of soup, though, he brightened and sat up on the couch.

“Really?” he asked. “I haven’t tried any of his soups yet.”

“Me neither,” Zhao Zi answered. “I also bought some pork buns and fish balls to go with it.”

Shao Fei literally rubbed his hands together in anticipation and Tang Yi frowned. Shao Fei had refused any of the food that he'd offered to make him that morning, suffering only a cup of herbal tea and some dry toast.

Tang Yi shook off his annoyance and decided to be happy that at least Shao Fei was eating something.

“Tang Yi!” the man in question said as he waved a pork bun at him. “Here, have one!”

Tang Yi grabbed the bun and took a bite. It was incredible.

“Well?” Shao Fei asked.

Tang Yi shrugged and passed back the half-eaten bun. “It’s ok,” he lied.

“Ok?” Shao Fei asked, his large eyes widening comically. He stuffed the rest of the bun in his mouth and sighed. “So good,” he mumbled around it.

Zhao Zi, meanwhile, used the spoon to take a sip of the soup.

“Oh wow,” he said, slurping loudly. “A-Fei, have some of this. It tastes just like Granny’s!”

Tang Yi didn’t know Zhao Zi well, but even he knew that comparing someone favorably to his late grandmother was his highest form of praise.

Shao Fei ate a spoonful and grinned. “It really does!” He finished half of the container in minutes and then leaned back against the couch cushions and patted his stomach. “That was exactly what I needed today.”

Tang Yi’s eyes narrowed in annoyance.

* * *

Despite Shao Fei and Zhao Zi being close friends, Tang Yi and Jack rarely saw each other since Tang Yi was released from jail. After he learned Jack’s true motives in working for him, Tang Yi was not inclined to feign politeness. Sure, he hadn’t actually betrayed Tang Yi in the end, but it was close enough. If Tang Yi wasn’t on the straight and narrow, if he wasn’t dating a _cop_ , he would have been far less lenient in his retribution.

So when Tang Yi found himself face to face with the man outside of the police station the next week, he offered a terse nod of recognition and looked the other way.

Shao Fei still wasn’t fully healthy, but he insisted on returning to work, so Tang Yi decided to pick him up when his shift ended.

He only had to wait a few moments before Shao Fei and Zhao Zi both came out together, Shao Fei with his bag over his shoulder and Zhao Zi with his messenger bag strapped across his chest.

“Jack!” Zhao Zi called, waving wildly and grinning brightly at a man who Tang Yi had once personally ordered to rig explosives to a drug kingpin’s car.

“Hi, Shorty,” Jack answered. He wore a soft expression that Tang Yi hadn’t seen once in all the years Jack had worked for him, but that seemed to be his default look around Zhao Zi.

“How are you feeling?” Tang Yi asked when Shao Fei got close. He pressed the back of his hand against Shao Fei’s forehead.

“I’m _fine_ , stop hovering,” Shao Fei grumbled, swatting Tang Yi’s hand away.

“Come on, we’re getting dinner from Cheng-En’s truck,” Zhao Zi said.

“I can’t wait for you to try it,” Shao Fei said. “Since you know so much about cooking and food, you’ll probably appreciate it even more than I do.”

They walked together down the block, Zhao Zi and Jack leading and Tang Yi with Shao Fei behind them on the sidewalk.

“Is the merger complete?” Shao Fei asked.

“Mmm,” Tang Yi said. “Hong Ye is headed to Tokyo on Saturday to meet with their board of directors.”

“That’s good. Does that mean you can finally relax now?” Shao Fei asked.

“Anything you can do to help with that?” Tang Yi asked.

Shao Fei smirked. “We’ll see when we get home.”

Zhao Zi turned around to look at them. “Oh, A-Fei, Cheng-En told me he’d have more coffin bread today! Jack, didn’t you say you were looking for a good recipe? Maybe you can ask him about it.”

There was a short line at the food truck when they arrived. The air was brisk but not cold, so it was pleasant enough to wait.

“It’s my best customers!”

Tang Yi looked up at the sound of the booming voice. When Shao Fei talked about him, Tang Yi imagined Cheng-En as the sort of old uncle you’d see frying food at the night market stands. Instead, standing in the window of the food truck was a man around his age - or maybe, Tang Yi conceded reluctantly - slightly younger. He had dark, slicked back hair and a black apron tied over a white tank top. Both of his arms were inked with colorful tattoos that emphasized his lean muscles and wide shoulders.

This was the guy giving his boyfriend free soup when he was sick?

A quick glance over at Jack showed Tang Yi that he wasn’t the only one unhappily surprised by this discovery.

“A-Fei, I have fresh oysters if you want an omelet,” the man said, and Tang Yi frowned.

 _A-Fei_ , was it?

“You have to try his oyster omelet,” Shao Fei said. Tang Yi could feel his teeth grinding.

They stepped up for their turn in line. Cheng-En tossed a towel over his shoulder and leaned out the window.

“You’ve brought some friends,” he said with a grin.

Pointedly, Tang Yi wrapped an arm around Shao Fei’s shoulders and raised a challenging eyebrow, but the guy showed no reaction to that, just continued to smile pleasantly at them.

“I’m Cheng-En. Welcome. Like I said, I’ve got a shipment of fresh oysters to play with and a pot of steamed ba-wan all ready to serve. What can I get you?” he asked.

Shao Fei and Zhao Zi bickered between each other as they ordered enough food for ten people. When it was ready, they set it all on one of the handful of outdoor tables set up. The rich, spicy scent of the ba-wan and gravy only worsened Tang Yi’s mood.

Shao Fei pushed a plate in front of him and piled food on top of it.

“Scallion pancakes, omelet, taro…” he muttered to himself as he served Tang Yi.

“Try the coffin bread,” Zhao Zi urged Jack on the other side of the table. He tore off a piece with his chopsticks and waved it in front of him.

Jack stared at it mutinously for a moment before opening his mouth.

“Unbelievable, right?” Zhao Zi asked and then dove in himself.

While Jack chewed, he looked over and met Tang Yi’s eyes. Despite their years of not working together, it seemed they could still understand each other when it counted.

* * *

Two weeks later, Tang Yi was in the kitchen when Shao Fei got home from work. He could hear the sound of Shao Fei moving around, putting down his bag and keys and then shuffling into the kitchen in his house slippers.

“Guess what happened,” he said, sitting down at the counter. “I went by the food truck for lunch today, and Cheng-En told me that he’s leaving!”

“Oh?” Tang Yi said.

“I guess he lucked out and got a once in a lifetime deal on the rent for some building all the way on the other side of the city, so now he’s opening his own restaurant.” Shao Fei sighed. “It’s his life’s dream, so I’m happy for him. His wife is five months pregnant with twins, did you know?”

Tang Yi did.

“And we’ll go there to eat when it’s up and running, of course. But I’m going to miss having him so close to the station. Ah well.”

Shao Fei finally seemed to notice what Tang Yi was cooking. He stretched over the counter to look at the oven.

“What smells so good?” he asked.

“Pork pepper buns,” Tang Yi answered.

Shao Fei jumped out of his seat and joined Tang Yi by the oven, wrapping his arms around Tang Yi’s waist and hooking his chin over Tang Yi’s shoulder.

“Really?” he asked excitedly. “How much longer do they need to bake?”

Tang Yi was prepared for that question, and he answered by uncovering the first batch that was already cooling.

“Here,” Tang Yi said, turning around to face him.

Shao Fei grabbed one and took a bite.

“Mm!” he mumbled, eyes lighting up. “So soft!”

“Good?” Tang Yi asked.

“Really good!” Shao Fei declared when he finished it off.

Tang Yi hooked a finger into the space between two of the buttons on Shao Fei’s shirt and pulled him into a kiss until the buzzer on the oven dinged.

**Author's Note:**

> Look, cooking is Jack and Tang Yi's love language. How dare someone try to take that away.
> 
> Consider this blanket permission to use this story for any remix, podfic, translation, fanart or other transformative work you'd like, but please inform me, credit me and provide me any links so that I can include it in the notes.
> 
> Join me on [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/theres-a-goldensky)!


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